Pakistani rupee

Pakistani Rupee پاکستانی روپیہ
ISO 4217 code	PKR
Central bank	State Bank of Pakistan
Website	www.sbp.org.pk
User(s)	Pakistan
Inflation	10.9%
Source	State Bank of Pakistan, July 2012
Subunit
1/100	Paisa (not used)
Symbol	₨
Nickname	Rupayya , Paisay
Coins
Freq. used	1, 2, 5 rupees
Banknotes
Freq. used	10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000 rupees

The Pakistani rupee (Urdu: روپیہ‎ / ALA-LC: Rūpiyah; sign: ₨; ISO code: PKR) is the official currency of Pakistan. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the State Bank of Pakistan, the central bank of the country. The most commonly used symbol for the rupee is Rs, used on receipts when purchasing goods and services. In Pakistan, the rupee is referred to as the "rupees", "rupaya" or "rupaye". As standard in Pakistani English, large values of rupees are counted in terms of thousands, lakh (100 thousand) and crore (10 million).

History

Rupee coin, made of silver, used in the state of Bahawalpur (now part of Pakistan) before 1947.

Rupee coin, made of gold, used in the state of Bahawalpur (now part of Pakistan) before 1947

Indian rupees were stamped with Government of Pakistan to be used as legal tenders in the new state of Pakistan in 1947.

The word rūpiya is derived form Sanskrit word rūpya, which means "wrought silver, a coin of silver",^[1] in origin an adjective meaning "shapely", with a more specific meaning of "stamped, impressed", whence "coin". It is derived from the noun rūpa "shape, likeness, image". Rūpaya was used to denote the coin introduced by Sher Shah Suri during his reign from 1540 to 1545 CE.

The Pakistani rupee was put into circulation in Pakistan after the dissolution of the British Raj in 1947. Initially, Pakistan used Indian coins and notes simply over-stamped with "Pakistan". New coins and banknotes were issued in 1948. Like the Indian rupee, it was originally divided into 16 annas, each of 4 pice or 12 pie. The currency was decimalised on 1 January 1961, with the rupee subdivided into 100 pice, renamed (in English) paise (singular paisa) later the same year. However, coins denominated in paise have not been issued since 1994.

Coins

Jinnah examining the then new Pakistani coins in the Governor-General's House, Karachi in 1948

First Pakistani Rupee coin, made of nickel, 1948

Commemorative 20 rupees coin on the 150th year of Lawrence College Ghora Gali in 2011

In 1948, coins were introduced in denominations of 1 pice, ½, 1 and 2 annas, ¼, ½ and 1 rupee. 1 pie coins were added in 1951. In 1961, coins for 1, 5 and 10 pice were issued, followed later the same year by 1 paisa, 5 and 10 paise coins. In 1963, 10 and 25 paise coins were introduced, followed by 2 paise the next year. 1 rupee coins were reintroduced in 1979, followed by 2 rupees in 1998 and 5 rupees in 2002. 2 paise coins were last minted in 1976, with 1 paisa coins ceasing production in 1979. The 5, 10, 25 and 50 paise all ceased production in 1996. There are two variations of 2 rupee coins; most have clouds above the Badshahi Masjid but many don't. The one and two rupee coins were changed to aluminium in 2007.^[2] Paisa coins ceased to be legal tender in 2013, leaving Rs. 1 coin as the minimum legal tender.^[3]

Currently Circulating Coins
Depiction (Front)	Depiction (Back)	Value	Year in Use	Composition	Front Illustration	Back Illustration
		₨ 1	1998 – present	Bronze and Aluminium	Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah	Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Mausoleum, Sehwan Shareef
		₨ 2	1998 – present	Brass and Aluminium	Crescent and Star	Badshahi Masjid, Lahore
		₨ 5	2002 – present	Cupro-nickel	Crescent and Star	Number "5"
For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Banknotes

On 1 April 1948, provisional notes were issued by the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, for use exclusively within Pakistan, without the possibility of redemption in India. Printed by the India Security Press in Nasik, these notes consist of Indian note plates engraved (not overprinted) with the words GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN in English and “Hukumat-e-Pakistan” in Urdu added at the top and bottom, respectively, of the watermark area on the front only; the signatures on these notes remain those of Indian banking and finance officials.^[4]

Regular government issues commenced in 1948 in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 100 rupees. The government continued to issue 1 rupee notes until the 1980s but other note issuing was taken over by the State Bank in 1953, when 2, 5, 10 and 100 rupees notes were issued. Only a few 2 rupees notes were issued. 50 rupees notes were added in 1957, with 2 rupees notes reintroduced in 1985. In 1986, 500 rupees notes were introduced, followed by 1000 rupees the next year. 2 and 5 rupees notes were replaced by coins in 1998 and 2002. 20 rupee notes were added in 2005, followed by 5000 rupees in 2006.

All banknotes other than the 1 and 2 rupees feature a portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the obverse along with writing in Urdu. The reverses of the banknotes vary in design and have English text. The only Urdu text found on the reverse is the Urdu translation of the Prophetic Hadith, "Seeking honest livelihood is worship of God." which is حصول رزق حلال عبادت ہے (Hasool-e-Rizq-e-Halal Ibaadat hai).

The banknotes vary in size and colour, with larger denominations being longer than smaller ones. All contain multiple colours. However, each denomination does have one colour which predominates. All banknotes feature a watermark for security purposes. On the larger denomination notes, the watermark is a picture of Jinnah, while on smaller notes, it is a crescent and star. Different types of security threads are also present in each banknote.

Banknotes before the 2005 Series[5]
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description – Reverse	Status
Obverse	Reverse
		₨ 1	95 × 66 mm	Brown	Tomb of Muhammad Iqbal in Lahore	No longer in Circulation
		₨ 2	109 × 66 mm	Purple	Badshahi Masjid in Lahore
		₨ 5	127 × 73 mm	Burgundy	Khojak Tunnel in Balochistan
		₨ 10	141 × 73 mm	Green	Mohenjo-daro in Larkana District	No longer printed – Still in Circulation
		₨ 50	154 × 73 mm	Purple and Red	Alamgiri Gate of the Lahore Fort in Lahore
		₨ 100	165 × 73 mm	Red and Orange	Islamia College in Peshawar
		₨ 500	175 × 73 mm	Green, tan, red, and orange	The State Bank of Pakistan in Islamabad	No longer in Circulation
		₨ 1000	175 × 73 mm	Blue	Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore	No longer printed – Still in Circulation
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre.

The State Bank has started a new series of banknotes, phasing out the older designs for new, more secure ones.

2005 Series[6]
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Period
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		₨ 5	115 x 65 mm	Greenish Grey	Muhammad Ali Jinnah	Gwadar port, which is a mega project in Balochistan (Pakistan)	8 July 2008 – 31 Dec 2012
		₨ 10	115 × 65 mm	Green		Bab ul Khyber which is the entrance to the Khyber Pass, Khyber Agency, FATA	27 May 2006 – present
		₨ 20	123 × 65 mm	Orange Green		Mohenjo-daro in Larkana District	22 March 2008 – present
		₨ 50	131 x 65 m.m.	Purple		K2, second highest mountain of the world in northern areas of Pakistan	8 July 2008 – present
		₨ 100	139 × 65 mm	Red		Quaid-e-Azam Residency in Ziarat	11 November 2006 – present
		₨ 500	147 × 65 mm	Rich Deep Green		Badshahi Masjid in Lahore
		₨ 1000	155 × 65 mm	Dark blue		Islamia College in Peshawar	26 February 2007 – present
		₨ 5000	163 × 65 mm	Mustard		Faisal Masjid in Islamabad	27 May 2006 – present
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre.

(*Recently the State Bank revised the ₨ 20 banknote, after complaints of its similarity to the ₨ 5000, which caused a lot of confusion and financial losses, when people gave out ₨ 5000 notes, thinking them to be ₨ 20 notes)

Hajj banknotes

Due to the large number of pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the 1950s, the State Bank of Pakistan provided simple exchange facilities for Hajj pilgrims. The issue of special notes for the express use of the pilgrims was introduced. Although other means of exchange were considered, the high level of illiteracy amongst the Pakistani pilgrims and the additional costs that would be incurred through the need to purchase such means prevented the government from these methods of exchange. The State Bank Order to allow the issue of these "Hajj notes" was made in May 1950.

The use of Hajj notes continued until 1978. Until this date, stocks of notes were used without the necessity of printing new notes with the signatures of the later Governors. It is believed that, once the use of Hajj Notes was discontinued, most of the remaining stock of notes was destroyed. However, a large quantity of notes did find their way into the collector market following their sale to a bank note dealer by the State Bank of Pakistan.

Hajj banknotes of Pakistan
Image		Value	Main Colour	Description – Reverse	Date of usage
Obverse	Reverse
		₨ 10	Dark purple	Shalamar Gardens in Lahore	1960–1969
		₨ 10	Dark blue	Mohenjo-daro in Larkana	1970–1976
		₨ 100	Dark orange	Islamia College (Peshawar)	1970–1976

Special banknote

Exchange rate

US Dollar-Pakistani Rupee exchange rate

The Rupee was pegged to the British Pound until 1982, when the government of General Zia-ul-Haq changed it to managed float. As a result, the rupee devalued by 38.5% between 1982/83 and 1987/88 and the cost of importing raw material increased rapidly, causing huge pressure on Pakistan finances and damaging much of the industrial base built up by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The Pakistani rupee depreciated against the US dollar until the turn of the century, when Pakistan's large current-account surplus pushed the value of the rupee up versus the dollar. Pakistan's central bank then stabilised the exchange rate by lowering interest rates and buying dollars, in order to preserve the country's export competitiveness. The year 2008 has been termed a disastrous year for the rupee after the elections and until August 2008 it had lost 23% of its value since December, 2007 to a record low of 79.2 against US Dollar.^[7] The major reasons for this depreciation a huge current and trade accounts deficits had been built up since the credit boom in Pakistan post 2002. Due to rising militancy in the NWFP and FATA areas FDI began to fall and the structural problems of the balance of payment where exposed, a disastrous situation occurred where Foreign Reserves fell to as low as $2 billion. However by February 2011 Forex reserves had recovered at set a new record of $17 billion. Of that $17 billion, more than $10 billion is borrowed money with interest applicable.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Economy of Pakistan

Notes

External links

• SBP's webpage on the newnotes
• Business Recorder: Pakistan's first financial newspaper
• State Bank to issue Rs.5000/- and New Rs.10/- Banknotes from 27 May 2006: Governor
• The Haj Notes of Pakistan
• Haseeb Naz's collection on coins used in Pakistan